Kabali Da ! ; fans push the Box office figures to record highs despite mixed reviews
Chennai, July 25: The word ‘kabali’by now rings in a clear image of the star and his new movie. Almost every media has covered the movie and nobody wants to look lame by not knowing what the movie or the excitement is all about.
Kabali, a gangster action drama features the south Indian actor as an aging gangster who takes a shot at redemption and fights for equal pay rights for the Tamils in Malaysia.
More than 20 million people have viewed the pre-release trailer on YouTube in just two weeks.
The film has already grossed Rs 200 cr and half of that was covered in the first two days of the screening itself. The film is doing amazingly well even outside its home turf, that is to put it mildly. From premiere shows in the US and Canada alone the film has collected mindblowing $3.5 million. The movie was reportedly screened in over 400 screens in the American and Canadian market.
“At $3.5 million, ‘Kabali’ has emerged as the top grossing Tamil film and second highest south Indian grosser after ‘Baahubali’. Despite mixed reviews, the film has done exceptionally well across all centres throughout North America,” Sanjay, co-founder of CineGalaxy Inc, told IANS.
The Pa. Ranjith directorial, which collected Rs 5.2 crore on its opening day, witnessed a 20 per cent growth on its second day in the north Indian market where it collected Rs 6.2 crore on Saturday, thus taking its cumulative total of Rs 11.4 crore, read an official statement.
Mumbai-based trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted: “If this is not EARTH-SHATTERING, what is? Kabali (Tamil+Telugu) opening in international markets – Malaysia: No. 1 (Thursday+Friday), US-Canada: No. 3 (Thursday pre), UK: No. 10 (Thursday+Friday) @Rentrak.”
The figures shared by Adarsh were credited to Rentrak, a US-based firm which tracks at least 100,000 screens across 36 countries. The Indian box office figures are largely based on estimation from trade analysts for the lack of a centralised system or authentic regional systems.
“Kabali” also stars actors like Radhika Apte, Kishore, Dinesh, Dhansikaa, Kalaiarasan and Winston Chao. The film did not open to rave reviews on Friday, however, that didn’t dampen the spirit of Rajinikanth’s fans to celebrate the release of their cinema icon’s latest movie.
Tens of thousands thronged theatres across India on Friday, with diehard fans doing the ‘Lungi Dance’ to the beats of dhol in Tamil Nadu, where some offices had even declared a holiday. Others had booked entire cinemas for their staff. Air Asia flew 180 fans to the city for the first-day showing in a plane custom-painted with the star’s likeness.
The atmosphere outside and inside theatres are surreal and unbelievable. As one movie goer stands dejected outside a theatre, not being able to secure the coveted ticket after standing long hours in the queue on the first day, he quips “”If your wife gives birth to a child, would you wait a few days to see the baby?”
And that is the feeling the the man Rajinikanth( the actor’s stage name) can evoke. Rajnikanth was born Shivaji Rao Gaikwad and was the son of a police constable. He had a humble beginning and did various jobs from working as a railway porter to ticket seller on public buses. His rise from rags to riches is seen as a source of inspiration for many across the country.
